(DRAFT) Waived payment process - M3 PTO delay

Owned by annelouise
Last updated: Nov 21, 2022 by Deanna Collia
5 min read

PLEASE REASSIGN ALL THESE TICKETS TO JESSIE UNTIL PROCESS IS FINALIZED

Background: Our EverOwn agreement allows 60 days from system installation (M2) before the homeowner pays their first bill. This will soon be increased to 90 days from system installation.

Issue: Homeowners should not be using their solar system until they receive Permission to Operate (PTO) from their utility, which is uploaded in M3 by their installer. PTO timing varies by utility and installer and may or may not come by the time they owe their first EverBright solar payment.

The cause of the delay between M2 and M3 can be for a variety of reasons, but the result is the homeowner is billed for full usage from their utility AND they have a full solar payment to make to EverBright Unfortunately, this is an unexpected financial burden for some homeowners, who may reach out to support or Great America for help.

Solution: Waived Payment Process (allowed ONCE only) or Expedite PTO Process

If the homeowner reaches out to GA with a complaint about payment because of PTO delay, GA should escalate it via email to EverBright (providing full customer name, address, details)

Once EverBright receives the customer inquiry:

  • If the homeowner is raising the issue about paying both a full utility bill and an EverBright bill because of a delay in PTO:

  1. Pull up their job in EverBright LLC org - what’s the status? What date was M2 approved? Is M3 still pending?

    1. Mark this information in the “internal comments” of the Jira ticket along with the job link.

  2. If it isn’t clear from their inquiry, ask them if they know the cause of the delay - in other words, is the installation complete or is additional work required before the utility will provide PTO?

    1. Mark this information in the “internal comments” of the Jira ticket

  3. Open the excel sheet here HERE

    1. Search the file for the homeowner to see if a payment has been waived in the past.

    2. If not, you may waive the payment.

      1. If we’ve already waived a payment - send A-L a slack with the ticket number

    3. Enter the homeowner’s information in the excel spreadsheet - and information about the delay, M2 date, etc. Mark Column B as “waived payment”

  4. Offer to waive the homeowner’s EverBright payment and tell them we’ll send a message to their installer urging them to work with the utility and finalize PTO

    1. Add “waivedHO” to the label on the EBH ticket

    2. See below for canned response to the homeowner.

  5. Create a linked ticket to the installer - ask them to expedite any remaining items for PTO

    1. See below for canned response to the installer

  6. Create a second linked ticket to Great America at: SolarCustomerSupport@accountservicing.com

    1. Provide customer information (name, address) and ask them to waive the customer’s current/next payment.

    2. Ask them confirm which payments are being waived (date due/amount) and ensure that there are no applicable late/delinquency fees are applied to the account.

      1. Once this information is obtained, update the spreadsheet with it HERE

    3. See below for canned request to Great America

  • If they are complaining of an installation delay - but don’t mention billing/payment hardships:

  1. Pull up their job in EverBright LLC org - what’s the status? What date was M2 approved? Is M3 still pending?

  2. Ask them if they know the cause of the delay - in other words, is the installation complete or is additional work required before utility will provide PTO?

  3. Update the ticket’s internal comments with the job link and the information you found

  4. Do not offer to waive their payment since they haven’t raised payment as an issue

  5. Create a linked ticket to the installer - ask them to expedite any remaining items for PTO

    1. Add “DELAY” to the label on the EBH ticket

    2. Add information on the excel sheet HERE - ensure Column B is marked as “Installation Delay”

 

Canned message for PTO/Waived Payment - Note: Agent may need to modify it based on the customer’s specific issue

Hi Homeowner,

Unfortunately, obtaining permission to operate (PTO) from your utility is taking longer than expected. Therefore, you’re receiving both an EverBright bill for your solar system and a full utility bill.

As a next step, I will will reach out to your installer about your concern, and suggest they explore ways to expedite receipt of PTO from your utility and/or finalize any remaining work on your system. In addition, we’d be happy to waive your current EverBright payment due. Hopefully this addresses your concerns for now. We value you as an EverBright customer and look forward to a long and ‘sunny’ relationship with you.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us should you require any further assistance.

Best Regards,

 

Canned message PTO and/or installation Delay (without a waived payment) - Note: Agent may need to modify it based on the customer’s specific issue

Hi Homeowner,

Unfortunately, system completion and obtaining permission to operate (PTO) from your utility is taking longer than expected.

As a next step, I will will reach out to your installer about your concern, and suggest they explore ways to expedite receipt of PTO from your utility and/or finalize any remaining work on your system. We value you as an EverBright customer and look forward to a long and ‘sunny’ relationship with you.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us should you require any further assistance.

Best Regards,

Canned message for the linked installer tickets:

"Hi (Installer name)

(Homeowner name) reached out to us about some questions on their financing agreement and asked when their system installation would be complete and receive PTO from their utility. We advised them that they should discuss these issues with you directly. Would you please reach out to (Homeowner name) to give them an update? Please also provide us an update and expected resolution.

Thanks

 Important note:  We should not disclose details about the homeowner’s concern – i.e. that it was billing related – instead, only be clear about the elements of the homeowner’s concern that are relevant for the installer, which is the PTO status.

Canned message to Great America regarding waived payment:

Great America:

Please waive (customer name, address) current / next due payment. Please reply with confirmation of the payment date/amount that has been waived and confirm that no late or delinquency fees are applied to the account.

Thanks! Your name.

 

Prior process - will be archived:

DO NOT USE - OUTDATED SOP - PTO related billing inquiriesarchived

Notes/context:

  • Management will meet monthly to view the spreadsheet HERE for trends/issues or a policy change

  • Finance team will handle how waived payments are handled from a financial and policy perspective and how/if we ultimately collect the waived payment

  • There’s a QuickSight report showing M2 - M3 data by installer and utility here - help to identify trends; utility or installer issues

  • A new dashboard will be built with a table of jobs >60 days without M3 approvals and installers with jobs on this list will receive an email asking them to prioritize resolution.